宗法制度爲禮之閫奧。《禮記‧大傳》云宗子以「親親」、「尊尊」收攏親族，以盡人道之極；王國維〈殷周制度論〉則曰周人異於商者，在乎立子立嫡之制立，由是而宗法、喪服生焉。然「君統」與「宗統」，或「尊尊」與「親親」於天子繼承中之先後異同則爲宗法制度之一大爭議。自宋代「濮議」、「明代大禮議」以至晚清「光緒入繼」、「宣統入繼」等議禮之眾說紛紜，足以明皇位入繼者（爲人後者）與所後者或太生父母之關係、繼嗣與繼統、親本宗或尊所後、爲人後是否爲之子等議題，往往繫諸君統與宗統（親統）之分立、合併，乃至再斟酌與取捨。於此見經義與皇權政治之密切關係。黃以周《禮書通故》復論及「明大禮議」、「宋濮議」事，而晚清議禮諸家多爲以周師友。梁啓超評以周是書爲博贍精審，乃清代禮學之後勁，集清代禮學之大成。余遂徵以周《禮書通故》，董理其「宗君」之論，終得「君統」獨立於「宗統」義，「爲人後者爲之子」但施於君統，而公子、別子者則以宗道約之，大夫以下無奪宗例。乃明「親親」、「尊尊」之取捨，不以「尊尊」害「親親」。進而考以周《禮書通故》論齊衰不杖期：「爲人後者爲其父母」例，見其宗法觀念之實踐

The ancestral succession system (zongfa), a politico-lineal system fortified by the agnatic units of stratified kinship groups, was instituted by and became a defining feature of the ruling aristocracy in the Zhou dynasty (ca. 1046-256 BCE). After the demise of the Zhou, it was adopted as the rule of succession of the ruling houses by later dynasties throughout the imperial China through 1911. The controversy of ancestral succession (zongtong) vs. succession of rulers hip (juntong) in the succession of emperorship was a significant issue in the Prince of Pu Controversy (ca. 1063) of the Song, in the Grand Rites Controversy (c . 1521) of the Ming, and the successions of Guangxu and Xuantong emperors (ca. 1874 and 1908) of the Qing. It is clear that the interpretation of the Confucian classics was unequivocally relevant to the ritual and symbolic aspect of emperorship in imperial China. Huang Yizhou (1828-1899), a classicist specializing in the Three Rites in the late Qing, included his thoughts and studies in his magnum opus, Lishu tonggu (Comprehensive Glosses of the Writings on the Rites). This article explicates how Huang interpreted the controversy of ancestral succession vs. succession of rulers hip and how he used the ideas of counting the kindred (qinqin) and honoring the honored ones (zunzun) to engage in and synthesize the ongoing discussion of this issue that started two millennia before his time